Road to Calvary (V)

Today is Good Friday. It was today, many many years ago that our Saviour was put on a cross, shed his blood for our sins. He gave up his life for us. A sinless, guiltless perfect man died for you and me.

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷ Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹ Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. ²⁰Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. ²¹ The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³ When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

²⁴ “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”

So this is what the soldiers did.

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” ²⁷ and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

John 19:17-27

Christ was crucified for us. If you looked into it, you were see exactly how extreme and how painful it really was, from the whipping, to carrying the cross, to being nailed, hung, and pierced. He went though a lot of pain for us.

We get to see a last glimpse of Pilate's character here, and like the speaker described in the sermon today, that some people respond to the cross by just touching it, not embracing it. Pilate recognized that God was guiltless, but he still gave into peer pressure in the previous post. Pilate wrote "The King of The Jews" as a statement, whereas the others wanted it to say that "he CLAIMED to be the King of The Jews". But Pilate stayed true and kept it how he wrote it, hinting at the truth and what he believed and saw. A sinless, guiltless person, taking the blame and the consequence for something he didn't deserve.

The next part, with the casting lots, it said that it was done to fulfill scripture as it was said in Psalm 22:18. I personally do not see and understand the significance yet besides fulfilling scripture. For instance, why did they cast lots for it? What was the point of that?

The last few verses, i feel like it shows the detail of God's plan. That when Mary saw her son up there on the cross, he had already planned for her to be taken care of, by his disciple. It shows how detailed our God thinks, how exact and precise, and to the tee. That all things are perfect in his hands.

²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

³¹ Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³² The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. ³⁵ The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. ³⁶ These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” ³⁷ and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

John 19:28-37

"It is finished". Jesus' final words before he died on the cross. You can really see his true dedication to his Father and to the plan. He carried out every single bit of God's plan from beginning to end, not wavering or straying away.

Again, like the garment and the lots, scripture was to be fulfilled when Jesus was pierced. That no bones will be broken, only pierced, as referred to in Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, as well as Psalm 34:20. Its amazing to see that even after Jesus' death that scripture is being fulfilled and God's plan is always in motion.

Jesus' body was then buried in a tomb, and he lay there the next three days, and while the world mourned, God above knew that something greater was coming.

Resurrection Sunday.

verse of the day: John 2:19

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”